Stacked rack structure



March 10, 1953 A. c. VACANTl STACKED RACK STRUCTURE 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed Oct. 26, 1948 Inventor Anthony 6. Va canfi March 10, 1953 A. c. VACANTI STACKED RACK STRUCTURE 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed Oct. 26. 1948 Fig. 2.

Inventor An Many 0. Vacanri.

Patented Mar. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural refinements in drying racks, and the principal object of the invention is to facilitate convenient and expeditious drying of paint, shellac or lacquer with which the surface of bowling pins is commonly treated.

In particular, the invention contemplates the provision of a drying rack for bowling pins which are formed in the base thereof with a blind, axial bore, the rack including in its construction a set of upstanding rods which are receivable in the aforementioned bores of the pins, so that the latter may be conveniently supported while dry- An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of vertically stackable rack units having the aforementioned pin supporting rods mounted thereon, matters being so arranged that the rack units, by virtue of their stackable characteristics, may be superimposed so as to occupy a very small amount of floor space.

An additional feature of the invention lies in the provision of a drip pan in each of the rack units, these pans being adapted to collect access paint, shellac or lacquer such as may drip from the drying pins.

A still further feature of the invention resides in the arrangement of the bowling pin supporting rods Which facilitates supporting of the pins in an elevated position with respect to the drip pan, whereby the base surfaces of the pins are exposed to air and subjected to drying.

Important advantages of the invention reside in its simplicity of construction and in its adaptability to economical manufacture.

With the above more important objects and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention consists essentially of the construction and arrangement of parts as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 3-3 in Figure 1; and,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary group perspective view showing the attachment of one of the supporting legs to one of the drip pans used in the invention.

Like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the invention consists of a drying rack designated generally by the reference character l8, the same being intended for drying bowling pins !2 after they are treated with lacquer, shellac, paint or the like.

The rack til preferably consists of a plurality of rack units It, l6, 18, etc., these being stackable in a vertically superimposed manner, substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings. The rack units [4, I 6, l8 are similar in construction, so that a description of one will sufiice for all.

Each of these rack units, consists of a drip pan 26 having upturned perimetric flanges 22 and provided at the corners thereof with downwardly extending supporting legs 24. It is to be noted that the legs 24 are substantially L-shaped in cross sectional configuration and are secured to the corner portions of the drip pan flanges 22 by means of suitable bolts or screws 26.

It may be explained at this point that the only distinction between the rack unit l4 and the rack units l6, I8 is that the legs 24 of the unit M are relatively short, while the legs 28 of the units I6, 18 are comparatively long, exceeding somewhat the height of the bowling pins E2.

The pans 20 of the racks M, l6, l8 are formed with sets of apertures 30 (see Figure 3) and a plurality of upright studs or rods 32, provided with screw threaded lower end portions, are secured in these apertures by suitable lock nuts 3s. Suitable washers 35 may be provided between the upper and lower surfaces of the pans 2B and the lock nuts 34, whereby the pans are substantially reinforced against buckling and the rods or studs 32 are firmly retained in their upright positions.

The rods 32 are receivable in blind, axial bores 38 With which the base portions of the pins 12 are usually provided (see Figure 3), the rods being of such length as compared to the length of the bores 38 that they supportably engage the blind inner end surfaces in of the bores and thereby support the pins i2 in an elevated position above the pans 2t, substantially as shown. That is to say, the bases 42 of the pins I2 are supported in spaced relation above the pans 2U, so that drying of the base surfaces of the pins is facilitated. Needless to say, these pans 2B are adapted to collect any excess paint, lacquer, shellac, etc., which may drip from the drying pins.

It is to be also noted that for purposes of reinforcement, the upper edge portions of the flanges 22 of the pans 20 are beaded as at 44 (see Figwe 4), and the upper end portions of the legs 24, 28 are outwardly and horizontally angulated so as to form sets of flat carrier brackets 48. Matters are 50 arranged that when the rack units l4, l5, 18 are stacked together, the brackets 46 of the legs on one rack unit provide supporting surfaces for the lower ends of the legs on the next superimposed rack units, whereby stacking of the several units is facilitated, substantially as shown. It is to be also observed that the pan flanges 22 extend above the brackets 46 and are engageable with the inner surfaces of the legs on the next superimposed unit, so that the several rack units, when nested, are prevented from lateral shifting or displacement.

It is believed that the advanm 8 and use ,of the invention will be clearly apparent from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed un- $80 552?- While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what claimed as new is:

In a stacked rack structure, the combination of a lower rack unit comprising a rectangular pan, upturned flanges provided at marginaledges of said pan, a set of legs extending downwardly from the corners of the pan and comprising angle bars having upper end portions thereof secured to said upturned flanges, outturned flanges provided at the upper ends of said angle bars and disposed below the upper edges of the upturned flanges, and an upper rack unit including a rectangular pan and a set of leg forming angle bars extending downwardly from the corners thereof, lower end portions of the last mentioned angle bars resting on said outturned flanges and embracing corner portions of said upturned flanges whereby the upper and lower rack units are sustained against relative lateral shifting.

ANTHONY C. VACANTI.

,BQ EEBENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

U TED S A ES PATENTIS Number Name Date 982,538 Senge Jan. 24,1911 1,010,801 Rapp Dec. :5, 1911 1,216,700 Kilkenny Feb. 20, .1917 1,355,486 Longnecker Oct. 12,1920 1,667,913 Weston May '1, 1928 1,742,738 Turner Jan. 7, 1930 2,070,070 Stoner Feb. ,9, 1937 2,223,554 'Davis Dec. 3, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 839,710 France Jan. 7, 19,39 

